Ingot and package utilizing same



July 16, 1963 E. s. SCHWARTZ 3,097,741

INGQT AND PACKAGE UTILIZING SAME Filed April 10, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR.

afivr/vzegd E. s. SCHWARTZ 3,097,741

INGOT AND PACKAGE} UTILIZING SAME Filed April 10, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Ill" s lll TOR.

i M W Unite States Patent 3,097,741 INGOT AND PACKAGE UTILIZING SAMEEarl S. Schwartz, Chicago, Ill., assignor to H. Kramer & Co., Chicago,Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 186,529 8Claims. (Cl. 206-65) The present invention relates generally to ingotpackages, and more particularly to ingot packages including a minimum ofexpendable or returnable material, and to ingots for use as a base in aplatform for supporting a stack of ingots contained in the package.

Basically, the present invention relates to a package of stacked ingots,each of which may typically be composed of copper-base alloys such asbrass and bronze or other non-ferrous alloy cast into elongatedconfigurations of a weight readily susceptible to manual handling. Allthe ingots in a stack are of the same composition and the stack issecured to and supported by a platform or pallet, heretofore typicallyof wooden construction, and having a configuration which facilitateshandling by material handling equipment such as fork lift trucks. Suchwooden pallets are relatively expensive, and must be returned by theingot purchaser to the ingot packager for reuse. However, many of thesepallets are not returned and this increases the cost of packaging. Withrespect to those which are returned, the ingot packager must pay thereturn freight and this also results in increased packaging expense.Of-tentimes the pal-lets are subjected to relatively abusive handlingwhich damages them and requires early replacement. Even with regularrelatively unabusive handling the wooden pallets wear out and requirefrequent replacement. All of these factors render a stack of ingotssupported on a wooden pallet relatively expensive to package.

In a package in accordance with the present invention, the woodenpal-let, with all its disadvantages, is replaced with an inexpensiveexpendable platform comprising a plurality of spaced base ingots eachhaving a longitudinally-slotted bottom and a planar member resting atopthe slotted base ingots. The stack of ingots rests atop the planarmember, with the stacked ingots extending lengthwise in a directiontransverse to the lengthwise direction of the base ingots. A pluralityof strapping means are provided, each of which is received within a slotin a respective one of the base ingots and extends around the stack ofingots to secure the stacked ingots, the planar member, and the baseingots into a unitary package readily capable of handling by fork lifttrucks and the like. The only expendable items in the entire package arethe planar member, which may be of relatively inexpensive wood, or thelike, and the strapping. No element of the package need be returned. Thecost of the expendable items is substantially less than the returnfreight and replacement costs for the wooden pallets heretofore used.

In the secured package, the slots in the base ingots keep the strappingmeans in place and prevent slippage of the strapping means in adirection transverse to the direction in 'Whichthe slot extends.Accordingly, slippage of the strapping means in a direction whichlessens the binding eifect of the strapping means and which causes thepackage to break up is minimized.

The longitudinally extending slot in each base ingot has longitudinalsides which taper inwardly to facilitate removal of the ingot from thebottom-ridged mold in which the base ingot is cast, and to [facilitateintroduction of strapping means into the slot, said tapered sides actingas guides to direct the strapping means into the desired position.

An important feature of the present invention is that the base ingotsare of the same size and heat as the stacked ingots. Accordingly, thebase ingots may be used by the package purchaser just as the stackedingots. Furthermore, bottom-slotted ingots in excess of those needed forthe package base may be incorporated into the stack, thus eliminatingmaintaining surplus base ingots in inventory until a subsequent stack ofingots having the same generic composition is ready to be packaged; buteven in this case the base and stacked ingots are not from the sameheat.

By providing a base ingot having the same size as the ingots in thestack, the cos-t and complexity of the operation and equipment formaking the base ingots are minirnized. For example, in a typical ingotcasting operation, the ingots are cast in a continuous procession ofingot molds which are cyclically subjected to a number of stepsincluding a pouring operation in which the molds receive molten metal, acooling operation in which the molds are subjected to a cooling mediumsuch as a spray of water to facilitate solidification of the moltenmetal in the mold, and an inverting operation in which the solidifiedingots are dumped from the molds, following which the molds arerecycle-d back to the pouring operation. ingots for the stack have aspecified size generally uniform throughout the ingot making industryand most ingot making plants include equipment designed and constructedto handle ingot molds of a size which produces said conventionally sizedingots. By utilizing a base ingot having the same size as that of theconventional ingot in the stack, the molds used to cast the base ingotare of the same size as those used to cast the ingots in the stack, andthus may be handled, with a minimum of expense and bother, by the sameequipment already being utilized in casting ingots for the stack.

If the base ingot were of a size other than that of the ingots in thestack, special equipment would have to be constructed to handle theingot mold, or in the alternative, the ingot would have to be cast byhand, either alternative being substantially more expensive than if thebase ingot were of the same size as the ingots in the stack.

Other features and advantages are inherent in the structure claimed anddisclosed or will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing detailed description in conjunction with the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an enlarged perspective view of an embodiment of a baseingot in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation-a1 View of an embodi- 'ment of an ingotpackage constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the package of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the package. 7

Referring initially to FIGURE 1, there is shown an embodiment of a baseingot 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. Ingot 10has an elongated configuration and includes a longitudinally extendingslot in the ingots bottom surface 18, said ingot being illustrated in aninverted position in FIGURE 1.

Base ingots 10 constitute a portion of a platform for supporting a stackof ingots, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. More particularly, base ingots10 are arranged in spaced parallel relation, and the top surfaces 20 ofbase ingots 10 support a planar member 11 composed of relativelyinexpensive wood, plastic, or the like. Base ingots 10 and planar member11, constitute a platform 23 for supporting an ingot stack 12 composedprimarily of conventional unslotted ingots 13. However, becausebaseingots 10 are of the same size and composition as ingots 13, any ingots10 in excess of the number required to support ingot stack 12 may beincorporated into the ingot stack, as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 4.

Bottom slots 15 in base ingots 10 each receive a respective one of aplurality of conventional strapping means 14 3 which extend around ingotstack 12, and are tightenable to bind ingot stack 12, planar member 11and base ingots into a secure unitary package readily capable of beinghandled by fork lift trucks or the like. Additional strapping means 24,extending beneath member 11 and around ingot stack 12, may be utilizedto help secure ingot stack 12 to platform 23. Slots 15 in base ingot-s10 hold strapping means 14 in position and prevent sidewise slippagethereof, which in turn prevents loosening of the package bindings andkeeps the package from falling apart during handling. Suitable paper ortransparent plastic covers (not shown) may be placed over the assembledpackage, if desired.

Referring again to FIGURE 1, and describing the illustrated embodimentof base ingot 10 in greater detail, the ingot includes, in addition tobottom 18 and top 20, a pair of tapered ends 16 and a pair of taperedsides 17. Slot 15 includes a pair of inwardly tapering longitudinallyextending sides 19 which act as guides to direct newly introducedstrapping means 14 into the desired position on the top surface 22(FIGURE 1) of the slot. In addition, tapered sides 19 facilitate removalof the ingot from a bottom-ridged mold after the base ingot 10 hassolidified in the mold.

As previously indicated, base ingot 10 is cast to the same size asconventional ingots 13. Accordingly, except for the molds, the equipmentused in casting base ingots 10 is virtually the same as that used incasting ingots 13 and both ingots 10 and 13 may be cast at the sametime. This enables base ingots 10 to be produced with a maximum ofconvenience and a minimum of expense.

Planar member 11 and strapping means 14 are expendable, and need not bereturned to the ingot packager. These two items are relativelyinexpensive and the cost of these materials does not substantiallyincrease the cost of the package. Furthermore, the savings resultingfrom elimination of paying return freight on non-expendable platformsand elimination of replacing unreturned or worn out non-expendableplatforms is substantial.

The Purchaser of an ingot package prepared in accordance with thepresent invention need not be bothered with returning non-expendableplatforms, or with accumulating a substantial quantity of non-expendableplatforms prior to returning them to the packager.

Furthermore, most of platform 23, in the form of base ingots 10, may beused just as the ingots in stack 12 because base ingots 10 are of thesame composition as the ingots in the stack.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is: 1. An ingot package comprising: a plurality oflaterally spaced rows of base ingots; a planar member resting on saidspaced rows; a stack of ingots on said planar member; each of said rowsincluding a plurality of elongated base ingots extending lengthwise inend-abutting relation;

said stack including a layer having ingots extending lengthwise in adirection transverse to the lengthwise direction of said base ingots;

each of said base ingots having a slot extending along the length ofsaid ingot from ingot end to ingot end at the bottom of the ingot;

said slot extending inwardly from the bottom surface of said ingot;

each slot being longitudinally aligned with a corresponding slot in anadjacent base ingot in the same row;

and a plurality of strapping means each extending longitudinally withinthe aligned slots in a respective row of base ingots, and each extendingaround said stack of ingots to bind the stack of ingots, the planarmemher and the 'base ingots into a unitary package;

each slot including an innermost surface having a configurationconforming to the configuration of said strapping means for receivingsaid strapping means;

each slot having a width, at said innermost surface, sufiicient toaccommodate said strapping means and narrow enough to preventsubstantial lateral movement by the strapping means;

said received strapping means being located above the bottom surface ofthe base ingot.

2. An ingot package as recited in claim 1 wherein:

said base ingots and said ingots in the stack are all of substantiallyuniform size;

a pair of adjacent rows of base ingots are spaced apart laterally adistance exceeding the length of an ingot;

and said package further comprises a plurality of additional strappingmeans each located between an adjacent pair of said first-recitedplurality of strapping means, and each extending around said planar mem-'her and said stack of ingots to help bind the planar member and thestack of ingots into said unitary package.

3. An ingot package as recited in claim 1 wherein:

said transverse ingot layer is the top layer in said stack.

4. An ingot package as recited in claim 1 wherein:

said base ingots and said ingots in the stack are all composed ofcopper-base alloy from the same heat.

5. An ingot package as recited in claim 1 wherein:

said layer of transverse ingots in the stack includes a transverse rowhaving a plurality of ingots extending lengthwise in end-abuttingrelation;

and said package comprises a row of base ingots for each ingot in saidtransverse row with each row of base ingots underlying a respectiveingot in said transverse row.

6. An ingot package as recited in claim 5 and comprisplurality ofadditional strapping means each located between an adjacent pair of saidfirst-recited plurality of strapping means, and each extending around arespective ingot in said transverse row;

each transverse ingot being bound by a pair of strapping means, one fromsaid first-recited strapping means and one from said additionalstrapping means;

each of said pair of strapping means extending around said transverseingot at a location spaced inwardly from a respective end of thetransverse ingot substantially the same as the spacing of the other ofsaid pair of strapping means from its respective ingot end.

7. In an ingot package:

a plurality of laterally spaced rows of base ingots;

a planar member resting on said spaced rows;

each of said rows including a plurality of elongated base ingotsextending lengthwise in end-abutting relation;

each of said base ingots having a slot extending along the length ofsaid ingot from ingot end to ingot end at the bottom of the ingot;

said slot extending inwardly from the bottom surface of said ingot;

each slot being longitudinally aligned with a corresponding slot in anadjacent base ingot in the same row;

and a plurality of strapping means each extending longitudinally withinthe aligned slots in a respective row of base ingots, and each extendingaround said planar member;

each slot including an innermost surface having a configurationconforming to the configuration of said strapping means for receivingsaid strapping means;

each slot having a width, at said innermost surface, sufiicient toaccommodate said strapping means and narrow enough to preventsubstantial lateral movement by the strapping means;

said received strapping means being located above the bottom surface ofthe base ingot.

8. A base ingot for use with strapping means in an ingot narrow enoughto prevent substantial lateral movement by the strapping means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS GrodinMay 14, 1946 Frear Oct. 22, 1946 Friesner May 6, 1952 Reed Mar. 3, 1953Baumer Jan. 20, 1959 Johnson Dec. 217, 1960

1. AN INGOT PACKAGE COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF LATERALLY SPACED ROWS OFBASE INGOTS; A PLANAR MEMBER RESTING ON SAID SPACED ROWS; A STACK OFINGOTS ON SAID PLANAR MEMBER; EACH OF SAID ROWS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OFELONGATED BASE INGOTS EXTENDING LENGTHWISE IN END-ABUTTING RELATION;SAID STACK INCLUDING A LAYER HAVING INGOTS EXTENDING LENGTHWISE IN ADIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE LENGTHWISE DIRECTION OF SAID BASE INGOTS;EACH OF SAID BASE INGOTS HAVING A SLOT EXTENDING ALONG THE LENGTH OFSAID INGOT FROM INGOT END TO INGOT END AT THE BOTTOM OF THE INGOT; SAIDSLOT EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF SAID INGOT; EACH SLOTBEING LONGITUDINALLY ALIGNED WITH A CORRESPONDING SLOT IN AN ADJACENTBASE INGOT IN THE SAME ROW; AND A PLURALITY OF STRAPPING MEANS EACHEXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY WITHIN THE ALIGNED SLOTS IN A RESPECTIVE ROW